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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 T. L. JOHNS-0N.

STREET RAILROA L.

nted Feb. 20, 1883.

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(No Model.) v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. T. L. JOHNSON. STREET RAILROAD RAIL. N0. 272,554. Patented Feb. 20. 1883.

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UNITED STATES PATENT QFFTQE.

TOM L. JOHNSON, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

STREET-RAILROAD RAIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 272,554, dated February 20, 1883.

Application filed September 11, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, TOM L. JOHNSON, of the city of Indianapolis, county of Marion, and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street-Railroad Rails, of which the following is a specification,

The object of my said invention is to improve the form of that class of railroad-rails, used principally by street-railroads, which 0 nnbine the principal features of the tram-rail, ordinarily used for such purposes, and those of the T-rail used on steam-railroads.

I am aware that rails embodying the general features above mentioned are old, and I therefore disclaim the same, and confine myself to the form hereinafter particularly described and claimed as new.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof, and on which similar letters of reference indicate similar parts, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a rail formed in accordance with my invention, and Fig. 2 a transverse vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 shows a section ot'a street-railway bed and ordinary rails as commonly laid.

In said Figs. 1 and 2 the letter A indicates the flanged portion of the rail; B, the head of the rail; 0, an ofi'set under the head of the rail, abutting the web E,on the side of said webopposite to that continued out into the flange A. -The' web E extends from the foot D to the angles respectively formed on opposite sides by its union with the offset (3 and flange A, thus securing a uniform depth .of web proper for the fish-plates to clamp.

.,In Fig. 3 the letter G indicates an ordinary cross -tie, the letters H H stringers, such as are ordinarily used upon street-railways, and K K an ordinary form of street-rail laid thereon. The letters a: 00 indicate the edges of the adjacent and underlying roadway.

A peculiar and important feature ofthis rail is the offset 0, which, while serving the purpose of a close fit for the splice-bar or fishplate, as above mentioned,also serves another equally or more important purpose in the general conformation of and peculiar disposition of metal in the rail.

In the ordinary tram-rail or street-car rail the wear and tear of the street immediately adjoining the rails is an item of serious imporand tear can best be illustrated by referring to Fig. 3. At the points a: a, on the outer sides of the rails, owing to the lack of some supportingmedium for theearth or gravel and ballast surrounding the rail, the street becomes quickly depressed or worn down and grooved. Such a supporting medium, however, actual practice has shown is conspicuotf ly attained by the peculiar form of section given to the -rail forming the subject of this invention on both sides, but more particularly on the outer and most important side of the rail.

The splice-bar offset 0 is a large factor in the proper retaining of this ballast, for it is large enough, with its square corner, in connection with the curved or arched shape of the lower part of the head and T-shaped foot, to allow the surrounding and superiuoumbent traffic to press the ballast-gravel and stones of the street-into and against the rail, instead of (as shown in Fig. 3) cutting away the surface of the street from the rails. By sweeping out the metal between the dotted line L and the true outlineg h j, Fig. 4, instead of carrying the curve from the pointy to the outer edge, 3, a freer flow of the small stone or the looser ballast is permitted under the head, and a more capacious pocket presented for its reception than would otherwise be the case. The shape of these rails, moreover, is such that the ballast and earth are retained by them, when so pressed into them, and solidified by the ordinary street traflic. This will be apparent by referring to Fig. 2, in which the dotted outline p 191) may represent a mass of ballast, gravel, or stone, part of the street-bed.

Now, the tendencyofthe wheels running along-- side of the track above would be to throw the rail over on a center at about the point q, for,

q being taken as a center and the dotted line q r as a radius, it will be seen that the offset clamp the ballast and hold the rail by reason of such clamping, and also by its surface-frictance and cost. It is noticeable that after an I tion. Consequently the packed earth or bal- IOO last will begripped and retained tight-packed under the head, and between it and the offset and foot of the rail, and thus preserve the location of the rail and maintain intact the gage of the road. This latter point may be further emphasized thus: The general tendency of street-car or ofother tracks is to lose their gage by spreading, rather than by closing, of their tracks. This is usually caused by the loosening ofthe surrounding ballast in the first place, thus taking away a main cause of resistance to the spreading tendency of the streetcars, but still more to that of the vehicles traveling on the track subsequent to such loosening.

Hence the firm clamping and retaining of theoutside ballast, due to the peculiar shape of this offset, together with the proportion and general shape of the under side of this rail, serves eti'ectively the purpose of retaining the gage of the track. It is, moreover, obvious that, so far as the ballast is concerned, the reverse of this takes place-that is, the same shape and cause that clamps the rail to the ballast will serve to clamp the ballast to the rail-if we consider the rail as the stationary point of resistance, and the ballast, being now considered as a homogeneous block, as free to move over on the assumed center near (1. Thus is efl'ected the double purpose of preserving the integrity of the streets, as well asimaintaining the gage of the road intact. The latter is, in fact, consequent upon the for- Although themunicipal regulations of many cities demand that arail of not less than a given width be used, varying from four to five and a half inches, yet owing to the wear and tearin the rolling of a web and flange rail, by a careful location of the web with reference to the head and to the depth of flange allowed to enter each roll, for the pitch-line of the rolltrain should pass through the center ofthe Web. This demand is provided forin this rail, as will appear by reference to Fig. 2, in which the web is so located that as much of the long flange A is thrown above the pitch-line ot' the bottom roll as is possible, it being understood that the flange ends and the head commence at the point touched by a line bisecting the curve connecting the head and flange. By this means the greatest facility in rolling is secured. compatible with the proper stability of the rail. It will, moreover, be seen that this location of the head relatively to the vertical web secures an important economy in material, for by reference to Fig. 4t it will be seen that if the head B of this rail were to be thrown into the position shown by the dotted line at d 01 while the shoulder g it remains stationary it would nec-' es'sarily increase the total mass of the metal at U to the extent of the mass contained between the outline 9 hand the dotted line d.

In all ordinary rails, of whatever width, the

I head and flange are generally straightaor very nearly so, presenting a square corner or step to the wheels of crossing vehicles, and as a consequence the impinging wheels of such vehicles strike solidly on and mount squarely over, if crossing the rail at nearly a right an- -gle, but if at an angle inclined to the track the wheels slide sidewise,'raking, scraping, and tearing the street, as shown at the points 00 w,- Figl 3, whereas in the rail forming the subject of this invention this wear and tear of the street is prevented by the bevel given to both its head B and flange A, as is indicated by their departure from the horizontal dotted lines 3 y, Fig. 2; for the wheels of passing vehicles will mount and pass over these rails, particularly on the outer or head side, at any angle, with little or no tendency to slide side- Wise; for it will be seen by-referring to said figure that the departure of the head of said rail from the horizontal rapidly increases from the point just beyond that which would be covered by the tread of the wheels. This part of the head is, in fact, an addition to the head proper, by which addition the extreme point of the bevel is thrownbelow the grade of the surrounding street, thus providing for the subsequent settling'of the same. This conformation of rail would be impossible if the width of head were equal or only slightly wider than the tread of thewheels. Another peculiarity of this rail is that the head, flange, web, and foot are substantially of equal mass of material. In rolling iron of peculiar shape there are generally well-defined points which'determine the subsequent contraction of said shapeduringcooling. These points may salely be defined, in a general way, as being the extremely-exposed points of the given shape. It is an object gained in the manufacture of these shapes if the relation of these exposed points one to the other is such that the respective masses, taken together with their distance from the natural neutral axis of said shape, shall the one neutralize the other in'their contraction during cooling, and thus pr serve a rolled bar of given shape free from distortion when cold. Thus star-iron, whose four arms are generally of equal section, remains free from distortion during cooling. In angle-iron, on the contrary, where there are three determining-points of contraction, the greater mass of metal in that one point forming the angle causes an excess of contraction at said point, and consequently curves and distorts the bar during cooling. So in the ordinary T and tram rail, the greater mass of metal in the head-determines in a similar way excess of contraction at that point. It is, however, consistent with the above law to have a greater mass of metal in one part than in another, provided such excess of metal be not located in one of thedetermining-pointsofcontraction,butrather situated at or near what may be defined as the neutral axis of contraction.

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It will be seen that were the head of the rail forming the subject of this invention 0011- parts, and the thicker parts,having most maparts, that part having the higher temperaner and cooler parts, in consequence of which 'llange, and foot of the rail, as hereinbet'ore destructed as is ordinarily the case such construction would throw an excess of mass of metal into one of the determining-points of contraction of said rail, by which means the rail would become, as is ordinarily the case, distorted or curved in cooling. To avoid this it will be observed that the under part of the head in said rail is cut away, by which means the mass of metal .at the determining-points of contraction, taken-together with the respective distances of said points'from the neutral axis, is such that the rail is not distorted or curved during cooling, and at the same timethere is secured a lighter and equally efficient rail.

In ordinary rails the object has been to secure the longest wear by putting a maximum amount of metal in the head-the part most subject to wear-and a-minimum of metal in the other parts. The effect of such construction is that in rolling the rail, when it leaves the rolls its thin parts are cooler than its thick terial, naturally retain the heat a longer time. Now, if such rail be delivered from the rolls straight and true, but with the abovementioned difference of temperature in its several ture will shrink in cooling more than the thinnnequal shrinkage the rail, when cold, will be bent and curved, even it it had been delivered straight. In practice, to counteract this curvature in cooling, it is customary, upon the de livery of such rails from the rolls, to give them a camber or reverse curve, so that in cooling the rail will tend by curving in the opposite direction to straighten itself. This means, owing to the variable conditions of temperature in the diii'erent rails, can only give approximate results. Now, owing to the substantially equal mass in head, web,

scribed, together with their respective location from the neutral axis, the effect of temperature in the several parts is substantially nnilorm upon said parts. All necessity of cainbering in the rolling of said rail is therefore obviated, and if the rail be delivered straight and'true from the rolls, then it will remain perfectly straight and uncurved when cold.

It will also be observed that this construction of rail permits ot' the underside of the head being made concave, which construction secures a larger pocket for the retention of the ballast, and a contour permitting of the more easy intlow ot' the adjacent ballast, as hereinbet'ore described, than it the under side of the head were either convex or approximately square, as is generally the case.

It is of importance to bear in mind the fact that thisrail is designed tor the purpose of supporting the car by the tread of the wheels and not by their flanges, as issometimes practiced.

Having thus fully described the form, uses, l

and advantages of my said rail, as of my inwidth to prevent the car-wheels from coming in contact with the paving, and inclined'from near its inner to its outer side, so that the weight of the car shall be at all times upon that portion, of said head which is nearly directly above the web of said rail, substantially as shown and specified. I

2. A combined tram and T rail having the head B, located with reference to the center line of the web, re-enforced, as at G, and proportioned with reference to the flange A and the remaining parts of the rail, substantially as described, whereby the metal is distributed in the several parts, so as to equalize contraction therein during the process of cooling,

substantially as set forth.

3. The combined tram and T rail described, the width of whose head is proportioned and the lower part of its head curved and offset, substantially as shown and described, so as to allow the superincumbent pressure of ordinary adjacent street traffic to forcethe surrounding ballast into and against, instead of from, the rail, and to solidify and retain the ballast forced against and held by said rail, thus preserving the adjacent road-bed and maintaining an accurate gage of track, substantially as set forth.

4. In the combined tram and T rail described, the web E, located relatively to the flange A and head B, as described, so that a large part of the flange A is thrown above the pitch-line of the bottom roll used in its manufacture, whereby, in rolling, increased facility and economy of manufacture are secured, substantially as set forth.

5. In the combined tram and T rail described, the web E, located relatively to the flange A and head B, offset at G, as described, whereby a maximum capacity of outside pocket is secured with a minimum quantity of metal consistent with the proper stability ot" the rail, substantially as set. forth.

6. A combined tram and T rail having a reverse beveled or arched head, B, the outer bevel of which is prolonged and terminates in a rapidly-descending curve, by which conformation the extreme point of said curve is thrown below the grade of the surrounding street and the settling of the street provided for, and whereby great facility is adorded for vehicles to mount over and run across said rails, and wear and tear of road bed or ballast adjacent thereto obviated or greatly diminished, substantially asset forth.

Iniiwitness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, at Indianapolis, Indiana, this Jth day of September, A.'D. 1882.

TOM L. JOHNSON. [a s.]

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